


Clandestine

by overworkedunderwhelmed



Series: Enduring Universe [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A little bit of mystery, Aged-Up AU, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Heartrate, More pairings appear than listed above, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Undercover Missions, Wedding of the Decade, and also, but spoilers, more fleeting appearances
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 10:34:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13362813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overworkedunderwhelmed/pseuds/overworkedunderwhelmed
Summary: After a critical piece disappears from the evidence lockup without a trace, the Parisian Police are placed on high alert.When Alix and Kim both request a much needed night off to celebrate the wedding they’ve been anticipating for well over a decade, they get drawn into a much larger web of lies and deceit.[A Sequel to Enduring]





	Clandestine

**Author's Note:**

> As I spent months puzzling over and writing Enduring, I had way, way too many ideas brewing. This is the first of two planned sequels to Enduring. 
> 
> I found I had far more mysteries and puzzles than the Big Bang time had allowed, so I let the ideas start to brew. I also really enjoyed writing certain characters, so I wanted a little bit of time to flesh them out a bit more in this aged up universe

“I bet you won’t wear a dress.”

Alix groaned, shuddering as she quickly rolled and dodged out of his grasp. 

It was bad enough he’d already gotten one good hold over her. Fifteen years and Kim still hadn’t dropped his awful propensity for stupid bets.

Her nose wrinkled up in distaste. The mats forever reeked of sweat and plastic, no matter how many times the cleaning staff sanitized them. At least she had gotten Kim to take his workout gear home to be laundered every few days. It was ripe enough in here without the help. Even now, her black shorts and green striped outfit was prone to sticking uncomfortably to the mat. 

It wasn’t pretty, but so little of this job often was. But it was no less necessary.

Just like the weight of the baggage from being Akumatized again. The harsher memories of these more recent actions taking a much taller toll than they had years ago.

Then again, Ladybug’s Lucky Charm hadn’t been nearly so effective as it used to be. And sparring with each other was far easier than actually coming to terms with the chaos they each had wrought.

She’d snapped back up to her feet, righting herself quickly to monitor her partner’s moves and counter them before he’d had a chance to read her strategy. She had him on speed in tight spaces, but she would always be in trouble if he worked up the momentum. 

Putting him off balance was always a solid choice.

“To the wedding?” She’d smirked as he’d moved just a little slower than usual, his eyes following the balls of her feet as she’d bounced around. “I’ll wear one if you do.”

He scoffed. “Nobody is going to want to see that.”

Alix grinned, fists up as she circled the mat, careful to stay just out of his easy reach. “Oh, I would. And so would half the old Lycée class for sure. Not to mention half the precinct would love the chance to never let you live it down.”

He snorted, advancing straight for her. “Was that supposed to convince me? Talk about a steep price...”

“Hey. I don’t do dresses.” She watched the mischief clearly building in his eyes. A sure sign he was about to make his move. “Too much hassle. Not enough room to move freely.”

Her words prodded him into motion, his leg muscles propelled himself forward with maximum force.

But she hadn’t taken Judo at University for nothing. She dodged at the last second, spinning just enough to shift her own weight and use his momentum against him, dropping his back ruthlessly back to the ground.

Her grin was nothing short of victorious as she pinned Kim back onto the mat, dazed shock widening his grey eyes even after she’d risen back up from the pin. She held position, her muscles protesting slightly as she hovered just high enough above him to lord her win over him for a bit longer. “You want blackmail material on me? Then, this becomes an equal opportunity deal here.”

“It really bothers you that much?”

Frowning, she drew up to full height, offering a hand down to help him up. “It’s a point of pride.” 

* * *

Kim cleared his throat, dusting himself off as he rose to his feet and followed Alix off towards their respective locker rooms. He didn’t quite trust himself to find the words.

Not with Alix’s pride on the line.

Not with that triumphant smile still lingering on her lips. 

It wasn’t like it was his fault that she’d had a doctor’s appointment this morning when the orders had come in. Or that she decided to come directly to the gym to work off the stress. It wasn’t like he didn’t try to break the news to her gently. 

Commissioner Raincomprix’s assignment orders definitely hadn’t posed it as optional.

As a rule, undercover work wasn’t supposed to bridge over into their personal lives. But, to be fair, it wasn’t often that their friends could be a viable point of contact for breaking into a likely criminal operation.

Telling Alix she’d have to wear a dress -- and more than once -- was supposed to be the easy part...

Telling her they’d both have to feign a believable engagement -- to each other -- to even get the inside access they would need at Gabriel.

He sighed heavily, raking his fingers through the short bit of hair the force allowed as she headed towards the showers. 

Maybe he could hide the orders for another day, so she could figure all the messy details out for herself.


End file.
